Richard Hellinger Sr.: Orlando doctor followed his faith to India

Longtime Orlando doctor's faith guided him to build a hospital, with others, in India

Richard and Frank Hellingerhadlived next door to each other on Lake Rowena since they settled in Orlando in the '60s. Eleven kids ran between their homes, and every now and then, neighbors would gather to judge a homemade lemon-tart ice-cream contest between the two brothers.

The siblings would remain neighbors for 50 years — except for the seven Richard Hellinger spent in India beginning in 1968 to help start a hospital in Bangalore.

"He taught Sunday school for decades, I mean for 40, 50 years," said Frank Hellinger of Orlando. "He went to India inspired by an evangelist who came to First Baptist Church of Orlando. His faith was always stronger than mine."

When it was complete, the Bangalore Baptist Hospital didn't look like much, just a drab, oblong-shaped building. But it was Hellinger's crown jewel. He was a medical doctor by day, and his work on that facility represented his two loves: medicine and faith.

Richard Harriss Hellinger died May 2 of multiple organ failure. He was 83.

Before Hellinger and his wife, former Orlando city Commissioner "Frankee" Hellinger, returned to Orlando in 1975, they created more than a dozen churches and taught Bible school in India.

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Richard Hellinger Sr.

Richard Hellinger Sr.

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Commissioner Robert Stuart, an attendee of the couple's Orlando Sunday school classes, said the two were complements in the classroom. Though both were outgoing, it was Hellinger who was known nearly as much for being a prankster as he was for being a doctor.

According to his friends and family, he once ate so many carrots his skin changed color; he went by a fake name in the phone book so he did not have to pay to be unlisted; when his fraternity brother got married, Hellinger tossed him into the pool — suit and all.

After he graduated from the University of Florida and attended Northwestern University Medical School, Hellinger finished his residency at Tulane University Medical School, where he worked at Charity Hospital and fell in love with a nurse student, Frankee. He served in the Air Force in the early '60s.

"He was a heart specialist, and I was a neurosurgeon," said Frank Hellinger, who is 15 months older than Richard Hellinger. "He was more adventurous, innovative of the two of us, and I often just followed the standard route."

At Florida Hospital, where he worked for 50 years, he wore a coat and tie more often than a white coat. Notorious for running late, Hellinger was a country-style doctor with a loyal clientele, said Stuart, who was also a patient.

"It got to where we would call the office at the appointment time," Stuart said. Patients would ask whether Hellinger was there before they headed over.

One weekend afternoon, Stuart cut himself while using a steak knife. He went to Hellinger, who looked at it, told him to apply pressure and a bandage, and if it still hurt in a week, to give him a call.

In addition to his brother and his wife, Richard Hellinger is survived by daughters Frances "Fran" Haines of Washington, D.C., Laura Hellinger of Orlando, Amy Polfer of Maitland and Elizabeth Stum of Galveston, Texas; sons Richard Jr. Hellinger of Atlanta and John Hellinger of Orlando; and 10 grandchildren.